Professor Goodfellow's G.E.E.C.
Professor Goodfellow's G.E.E.C. is the third episode of the first season of the Super Friends series. It featured the first appearance of Plastic Man, the famous elastic superhero that originally came from Quality Comics. His appearance here is very brief, and he doesn't show up until close to the end of the episode. Nevertheless, the popularity of his character lead to a spin-off series six years later from Ruby-Spears called The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show. In this series, Norman Alden provided the voice of the character, whereas in his own series, he was voiced by Michael Bell. A number of characters from the real world are seen or referenced in this episode, such as Willie Mays, Joe Namath, Abraham Lincoln, Christopher Columbus and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, just to name a few. We also see the school that Marvin White and Wendy Harris attend for the first time. We also are introduced to the neighbor of Marvin White, Slim Smith, who also owns a local gas station. This episode is the classic "machines are turning mankind lazy" story. It dealt with a supercomputer that was capable of doing all physical work, allowing humans to do nothing but rest and be entertained. It also shown the consequences, and the undesired traits that manifest in people who allowed themselves to become lazy due to being serviced by the computer. For example, "Slim" Smith had became overweight, due to a lack of physical activity, and Wendy hated riding in row boats that she couldn't row, because there was no fun in it. The computer was called G.E.E.C., which was invented by Professor Goodfellow, who is not a real villain, in fact, the real antagonist of the story could be laziness itself. In the end though, when the G.E.E.C. begins to malfunction, the real problems begin. Goodfellow, despite being a man of good intentions, ended up nearly causing some of the biggest disasters the world ever seen, multiple plane crashes and stuff like that. But thanks to the Super Friends, such disasters were thwarted and Goodfellow is able to learn his lesson, that mankind was meant to work and that no machine can truly replace a man. This is a classic theme in science fiction, and this theme was even used for the eighth feature film of Star Trek, which told a similar story except it shown a world where machines were used at a minimum, and one of the characters pointed out that if you build a machine to do the work of a man, "you take something away from the man."For more information about that Star Trek film, click here. Another thing referenced in this episode was that Robin used to be a part of a circus act. Although not referred to by name, fans of the comics know that Robin was a member of the Flying Graysons, before he became Batman's sidekick. One other thing that was a bit interesting, was the inclusion of an original song, which was a country music song about a railroad gang, which told a humorous story about a railway worker that smashes his toe with a hammer! __TOC__ Synopsis A well intentioned professor creates a computer that operates machines globally (cars, planes, TV, etc), so that people don’t have to work anymore. But soon trouble starts and the SuperFriends have a global problem to deal with. Plot Summary Cast Real-World Figures Mentioned * Willie Mays * Joe Namath *Abraham Lincoln * Christopher Columbus * Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Locations *Gotham City **Hall of Justice *** Second Floor (revealed in this episode) ** Gotham High School ** G.E.E.C. Factory, in or near Gotham City ** Slim's Service Station ** Marvin White’s House, in or near Gotham City * An Unnamed U.S. Air Force Base Vehicles * The XP, an experimental plane * Batmobile * Aquaman’s Sea-Horse Items * TroubAlert in the Hall of Justice * The G.E.E.C. computer located in the G.E.E.C. Factory * The G.E.E.C. satellite located in space *Kryptonite is mentioned Government Agencies * United States Government ** Executive Office of the President of the United States *** Special Assistant to the President (aka The White House Chief of Staff) *U.S. Air Force Episode Title Coming Soon! Continuity Coming Soon! Continuity in Other Media Coming Soon! Notes * Plastic Man’s cameo is only 44 seconds. This is the sum total of his 'screen-time' on the SuperFriends TV Show. * We learn in this episode that the Hall of Justice has a 2nd floor. * We also see a clear shot of Aquaman on an unnamed sea horse. This sea horse is probably Storm. * References: U.S. Air Force, Air Force base, Washington, TroubAlert, Forklift, Tractor, United States Government, Dimby, Batmobile, Brigette's, G.E.E.C. Factory, G.E.E.C. Robots, Ironsides, mud bath, Prof. Goodfellow's Funmobile, Television, Movies, Rock albums, Ice cream, candy, popcorn, pastries, cotton candy, peanuts, Marvin's bicycle, Wendy's bicycle, Prank, brain, G.E.E.C. cart, Farmers, Joe Namath, Football, G.E.E.C. TV, coffee, heart, soul, Daily News, Neptune, Traffic guard, G.E.E.C. Grocery van, Lumber truck, muscles, drive, High School, Mr. Smith's Gas Station, G.E.E.C. Automated Jeep, air, oil, gasoline, Diana Prince White, G.E.E.C. Doghouse, black cat, math, flowers, lawnmower, G.E.E.C. fishing boats, G.E.E.C. Freighter, starfish, S.O.S., ships, Boat Lake Park, rowboat, G.E.E.C. operated rowboat, G.E.E.C. trucks, G.E.E.C. cargo plane, vegetables, plants, vandals, Cheese sandwich, soda, ham, bread, sliced bread, Jello salad, boiled eggs, sauce, Ice cream soda, dog, mice, To A Mouse, Robert Burns, mouse, Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, Gettysburg, United States Declaration of Independence, 1776, History, Christopher Columbus, Midwestern United States, Columbus, Ohio, Hiawatha, The Song of Hiawatha, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, rabbit, deer, Gitche Gumee, Country music, Opera, La donna è mobile, guitar, cowboy, The Railroad Gang Song, G.E.E.C. taxi, Graham Street, Liney R, crane, New power plant, Toy wagon, vacuum cleaner, North Atlantic, Sydney, waters, whales, hen, pigs, Caped Crusaders, Bud Harrelson, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Willy Mays, baseball, Galileo, Force field, Batrope, tree, Paradise Island, Amazons, robot, ship, train, superbrains, G.E.E.C. Guards, Robin's circus act, Superfriends ring, Kryptonite, G.E.E.C. tractor, hammerhead sharks, X-Ray vision, animal, lightning speed, Lady Justice, and Lunch. Quotes References External links Coming Soon! Category:Episodes Category:1973 Releases